M / ■ - i Www ' Jo 1 FROM THE LIBRARY OF REV. LOUIS FITZGERALD BENSON, D. D. BEQUEATHED BY HIM TO THE LIBRARY OF PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY /s /a7 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library http://archive.org/details/bishopwOOwhit BISHOP WHITE'S OPINIONS. " Angels and living saints, and dead, But one communion make : All join in CHRIST, their vital Head, And of his love partake." Hymn 26: 5. BISHOP WHITE'S OPINIONS ON Certain Ofolojjfcal anD Ecclesiastical joints ; be: t ^EPILATION FROM IHB WRITINGS AMD IN 1 WORDS OF . _.:. Rev. WM. r HITB, D.D . SOMETIME BUHOP UP PI HENRY M. ONDERDONK A. CO^ B fUl M AND BOOKSELL ITAKJ 25 JOHN STREET. 184*. kJ I Filtered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1346, by Hknry M. Onderdonk, in the Clerk's Office . of the District Court for the Southern District of New York. TO THE YOUNGER OF THE MEMBERS, CLERICAL AND LAY, OP THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH, THIS COMPILATION 1KOM THE WRITINGS OF THAT GODLY MAN AND BISHOP, DOCTOR WILLIAM WHITE, IS INSCRIBED. " A respectable old friend of WASHINGTON, whose patriotic prayers and blessings have, in this Congress Hall, been associated with the most important events of the Revolution." — Gen. Lafayette's description » t Bishop White. — Vide Reply to Address, fyc. ADVERTISEMENT. This compilation seeks, among other ends, the good of a generation which has grown up since our Right Rev. Fathers in God, the earlier Bishops of the Ame- ID Church, liave gone to their rest. They lived in troublous days, and did the work of (ion right man- fully : it is not meet to forget them, or the timet when, if the venerable Bishop Moore, ot Virgin * The Altars an»und whiehour fathers kneeled, were destitute icerdotal aid ; our baptismal fonts were levelled with the dust : there Nil no pri our little inno- cents into covenant with God, or to break to their disconsolate parents the bread of life." That the present generation of Churchmen may study, in the very words of one of the most r» 1 of these sainted Prelates, certain points of Church prin- ciples and opinions, and may learn, by Con's help, to emulate the purity of his character, and to attain t<- the charity of his life, so that, at the la>t. they may ternal joy, through JESU8 CHRIST OCR LORD, fa the humble desire Of their brotl, THE COMPILER, July, 1846. • Char. Bm. p tft AMERICAN EPISCOPACY. Patriots informed with Apostolic light Were they, who, when their country had been freed, Bowing with reverence to the ancient creed, Fixed on the frame of England's Church their sight, And strove in filial love to re-unite What force had severed. Thence they fetched the seed Of Christian unity, and won a meed Of praise from Heaven. To thee, O saintly White ! Patriarch of a wide-spreading family, Remotest lands and unborn times shall turn, Whether they would restore or build-— .to thee, As one who rightly taught how zeal should bum, As one who drew from out faith's holiest urn The purest stream of patient energy. Wm. Wordsworth. Section I. (Driginal Sin. " Behold I was shapon in iniquity ; and in sin did my mother conceive me." — Psalm li. 5. "Mania very far ^one from original righteous] —Frm Art. IX u The Churchman lavs at the Inundation of his faith and practice the d^ the corruption of human nature, leading to those actual transnrr»'s.-ions which ier man guilty in the sight ( ■ id rendering unworthy of divine acceptance hi^ works." — Bp. Hjbart. 3d charge, p. 6. Q. What is the ground-work of the scheme of Redemption ? A. Bishop White says,* " The ground- work of the whole scheme is man's loss of his original righteousness; that, by way of remedy of this, the mediatorial character of Christ involving the sacri- fice which he made for sin, in the strict * Con. Ser. 1801, p. 16. 10 bishop white's opinions. and proper meaning of the expressions ; as connected with every branch of the subject, his divinity, and his existence before all ages ; and, as stamping a cha- racter on the entire design, its being a dispensation of grace, meaning of grace or favor as the operating motive of the divine mind, and of grace or aid as co- essential to man's performance of the conditions of the gospel covenants, are points not dependent on detached pas- sages of holy writ, but pervading all its books." Q. What is man's state by nature ? A. Bishop White says,* " By nature, he is ignorant of God and of his perfec- tions; and without ability to acquire right conceptions of that only source of religious and moral obligation. This is not the worst ; for although his faculties, Sermon on Festival of H. Innocents, p. 7. BISHOP white's opinion- 1 I his affections, and his appetites M wisely suited to their respective end-. and in the right direction, would consti- tute him a perfect being; yet, in conse- quence of the weakness of intellect, of the strength of passion, and of the ex- citements of temptations, originating ii his wants ; being all the effects of the apostacy ; we have within us the ope- rating cause of every irregular desire, which may be kept within limits b\ prudential considerations, but can no otherwise be subdued, than by the pow- erful influence of divine grace." Q. What is the effect of the fall ? A. Bishop White says,* " As the effect of the fall we are to acknowledge am teach constantly, that all right to im- mortality was lost in Adam; and that, by our descent from him, our under- * Comment, p. S 1 . 12 bishop white's opnions. standings become darkened, and our wills depraved ; or, as the 9th article speaks, " We are far gone from original righteousness ;" so that, without the mercy of God, through Christ, we are amenable to his justice for the punish- ment of sin in a future lile, from which nothing in or of ourselves can rescue us." Section JL (Df tfjt |3lan o( Sabation. " Neither is their salvation in any other ; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." — The Acts,iv. 12. " Holy Scripture doth set out unto us only the name of Jesus Christ, whereby men must be saved." — From Art. XVIII. u It is this doctrine of justification and salvation only through the free grace of God in Jesus Christ, his divine Lord and Redeemer, which the Churchman daily and constantly cherishes as the only solace of his wounded conscience, and the only ground on which he can hope for acceptance at the tribunal of his Almighty Judge, and for advancement to the celestial glories BISHOP WHITE 9 ! OPINIONS. 13 which infinitely transcend the merit of his best worKs." — lip. JlobarL . p. 6. Q. State the scheme of salvation, guarding it from erroneous statements ? A. Bishop White says,* "Every scheme of religion, which denies the divine character, or the propitiatory sacrifice of the Redeemer ; or which represents man in any other character than that of a sinner, needing pardon ; or which ex- alts human reason, to the lowering of the estimation of divine illumination in the Scriptures ; or which creates a de- pendence on our own strength, to the undervaluing of the aids of the Holy Spirit ; or which arrogates merit to works, to the detriment of the merits of the great sacrifice of the cross ; is so far wide of the leading sense of revela- tion, that we may consider it as " a fall from grace. " * Ordination Scr. 1825, p. 10. 14 BISHOP white's opinions. Q. May the righteousness of the Re- deemer be exhibited in a false form ? A. Bishop White says,* " By men, who were incapable of intending the re- laxation of moral obligation, the righte- ousness of the Redeemer has been exhi- bited in such a form, as that other men, corrupt in their views, have, by strict deduction from the premises of the for- mer, denied the necessity of any right- eousness, either in heart or in practice. Their loud cry is of a finished salvation, without such a sequence. This is the ground of the strong hold of the Anti- nomians : strong, on the admission of the sufficiency of the ground ; but other- wise, as unreal as the " baseless fabric of a vision. 55 Q. What is the true and only ground. of acceptance with God ? j * Ord. Ser. 1825, p. 21. BISHOP wiirn/s opinion-. 15 A. Bishop White says,* " The true .did only ground of acceptance with is the i;i of our Lord and Sa- i iour .1 ( rist, through the sacrifice on the Cross; all merit, on the part oi' man, being utterly excluded and de- nied." Section III. Of (!>oob iUorks. Who gave himself for as, that he might rodoom a all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar f>eopl« if good works." — Tifus L 14. I». I i lively faith may he a known, d by the fruit." — FY n Art* XII. The Chorchman insists on the ity of t! spiritual change d I in Scripture by thai ssanc- .' ing of the mind, renewing of the I! He employs no the divin< rit in his soul, rs which aro produced there, and whi hihit the fruiU life." — li, . II barti * Comp. \ »1. i. p. 9( 16 bishop white's opinions. Q. What is the end 0/ the Gospel ? A. Bishop White says,* " The whole end of the Gospel is satisfied, in its bringing of men to " live soberly, reli- giously, and godly, in this present world." But to accomplish this, it must be taken in connexion with " the grace of God, that bringeth salvation." Thus, the whole body of divine truth is addressed to us as sinful beings, who have need of the mercy of God ; and, as frail beings, dependent on his aids; and who, therefore, will not be mate- rially benefitted by a scheme of instruc- tion, accommodated to a grade of cha- racter of which they feel themselves un- conscious." Q. By what test shall we know that we are under the guidance of the spirit ? A. Bishop White says,f " We may * Genl. Semy. Address, 1822, p. 7. t Sem. Address, 1823, p. 7, bishop white's opinions. 17 know it exactly in proportion as it is discoverable in holy habits, manifesting themselves in holy actions." Q. What obligation lies on every one who looks for salvation through Christ ? A. Bishop White says,* " There lies on every one, who looks for salvation through Christ, the obligation of making a profession of his name ; which can be done only in the ordinances of his ap- pointment." Section IV. (Df (Jruanqcltsm ic (frnangclical J3rcacl)ing. "But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an Evangelist^ make full proof of thy ministry." — 2 Tun. iv. 5. " It (Kvan. d) properly denotes those who preach in all rec bctrinefl of the gospel, which are emphatically ' good tiding.' " — Up. llubart,\th charge, p. 9. * Cons. Ser. 1809, p. 33. 18 bishop white's opinions. Q. What are the various meanings at- tached to " Evangelism" or Evangelical doctrines ? A. Bishop White says,* " With some it comprehends such views of the sove- reignty of God, as are inconsistent with what our Church affirms of, ' the obla- tion of Christ for the sins of the whole world. 5 ' In the notions of others, it is connected with such an excitement of animal sensibility, as we have no in- stance of in the Bible, except in what is recorded of the issue joined between Eli- jah and the Priests of Baal. And, in some instances, there has been a subser- viency to the purposes of party, for the making of inroads on the institutions of our Church. So far as the present speaker can judge from his own observa- tion, and from his reading in the eccle- * Genl. Sem. Address, 1822, p. 6, BISHOP WHITE'S OPINIONS. 19 *i;} tl histori f tlio Cliurch of Ei land, 1. ver honorable the epithet of evangelical in the proper sense of the word, yet, when applied to the purposes of party, it has a tendency to reconcile the conscience to any expedients, how- ever contrary to od morals, which may seem conducive to what may per- haps he esteemed the cause of gospel truth.' Whatever may be the degree of weight to which this expression of opi- nion may be tl Jit entitled, it is the more solicitously delivered, in conse- quence of having known some who have begun with upright views in the path now cautioned against, and have gra- dually settled down, if not in known hy- pocrisy, yet in a i of coir. and conduct, nec< y for the main- ining of consistency, but not suffici- ently distant from the pharis J el 20 bishop white's opinions* racter held out to our disapprobation^ in the Gospel." Q. Are there false definitions of evan- gelical preaching ? A. Bishop White says,* " That with some the idea of evangelical preaching comprehends much abstract speculation ; so that let there be acknowledged, ever so explicitly, man's unworthiness in himself, and his entire dependence on divine grace, yet shall he be deemed a denier of it ; unless he acknowledge a series of metaphysical refinements, not found in the Scriptures, but engrafted on the stock of Christianity, by the over- curious inventions of men. In this re- spect, professed zeal for evangelical preaching is merely specious and im* posing; confounding it with some sys- * Con. Ser. 1811, p. 21. BISHOP white's opinions. 2 1 tern that has more in it of philosophy than of Christianity; there being here understood, by the former term, what St. Paul understood when housed it with the planatory addition, 'falsely so called. '" Again : Bishop White says, "To some ears, nothing short of Calvinism comes under the character of evangelical preach- ing; while again t< me, a sermon ap- proaches to the proper standard in this respect, in proportion as it has a ten- dency to excite animal sensibility." Q. Is there another erroneous defini- tion of evangelical preaching ? A. Bishop White says,* " There are some persons who entertain the opinion, that to render a sermon truly evangeli- cal, it should exhibit the whole Chris- tian doctrine in epitome. It is easy to perceive, that, according to the last the- * Commentaries, p. 157. 22 bishop white's opinions. ory, there is not in Scripture a single apostolic address which answers to the character of a preaching of Christ." Q. Are there " various fancies which set reason and revelation in contrariety V 9 A. Bishop White* says, " Of that de- scription we may consider means of conversion, which agitate the pas- sions without conveying any information to the understanding ; and according to which there are supposed assurances of salvation, without the possession of a particle of knowledge, either of the truths of our holy religion, or of the grounds on which it rests. Under the same class is the sentiment avowed by some that the proper way of communi- cating the Gospel to those who are strangers to it, is by merely preaching Christ to them, in the offices in which * Comment, p. 31. BISHOP WIIITF/S opinions. 23 he is d nated in Scripture; leaving the issue to the operation of divine grace. It ought to be a subject of grief, tthen, in reading accounts of the labors o( pious men, for the converting of heathen nations, we find this the only ground on which the desired conversion wascithrr attempted or expected. There e no hesitation to express the opi- nion that it in some m« re accounts for the almost absolute inefficacy of their zeal and pains." Q. Give an instance of Bishop White's >e of the term " evangelical ?" A. Bishop White* speaks of "The evangelical services of the Book of Com- mon Prayer." Q. Do different theories attach dif- it senses to the term " evangeli- j ?" * Address to GcnI. Thcol. Sem. July, MB 24 bishop white's opinions. A. Bishop White says,* " In theories as diverse as possible from the one men- tioned, j there are those who acknow- ledge no signs of evangelical preaching, except as it tends to agitate the feelings of our animal mechanism, having no connexion with the gracious affections known in Scripture as a new creation, and a vesting within properties which are a renewal of the image in which our race was originally created; but spend- ing their forces in a variety of extrava- gances as diverse from one another as from Scriptural and rational devotion." Q. Is the term " evangelical" some- times used for party purposes ? *,_ A. Bishop White says,f " It is some- times used for the casting of unmerited reproach, and with a view to very un- worthy purposes ; especially when it is so * Genl. Theol. Sem. Address, 1829, p. 5. f Genl. Theol. Sem. Address, 1829, p. 6. bishop white's opinion 25 applied as to cover an agency in party, it will pot be checked by any dictates of moral obligation." Q. How is the claim of evangelical preaching often mack A. Bishop White says,* " The claim of evangelical pre achi ng is often made, either in the ^ay of denying that any thing short of Calvinism is Gospel doc- trine; or else, as resolving all religion into animal sensibility. The name in question (evangelical,) when assumed with a view to the making of a distinc- tion on such grounds, has a tendency to slander many faithful ministers, who make a conscience of opening to their flocks the whole counsel of God ; but do not consider the opinions here alluded to, or an; practices connected with them, as comprehended within the de- i * Com p. V .ii.] 26 bishop white's opinions. sign. On this account it is here sup- posed, that a clergyman may be truly evangelical in his preaching, and yet, not wish to be characterized by a name, so far as it is abused to an unworthy purpose." Section V. <3)f % Wxbit; anir tlje JUlation of % €\)nxtl) to tijt Wxbit. " The Church hath power to decree rites or cere- monies, and authority in controversies of faith." — From Art. XX. " Great evils and unhappy divisions among Christ- ians have arisen from construing particular passages' in a sense different from the general tenor and design of the sacred volume." — Bishop Grisivold, Discourses^ f. 470. Q. How has the Divine Being im- parted to us his Revelation ? A. Bishop White says,* " The Divine * Charge 1807, p. 29. BISHOP WHITE'S opinions. 27 Being has been pleased to impart to us a revelation of his will, under a form, in which it cannot be applied to edification without a knowledge, to be possessed at least by some, of various branches of li- terature, which contribute to the ascer- taining of the true sense of Scripture." Q. On what authority does our Church rest the authority of the books of Scrip- ture ? Q. Bishop White says,* " She rests the authority of the books alleged to be Scripture, on the testimony of the Church ; affirming in her 20th article, that this body is a 'witness and a keeper of holy writ;' and she has not, in any of her institutions, given a hint of any other ground on which we are to re one book or another to have been given by inspiration.' * Comp. Views, vol. ii. p. 24 28 bishop white's opinions Q. On what testimony does the ge- nuineness of the canonical books of Scripture rest ? 1 A. Bishop White says,* " It will therefore be perceived, that their (the canonical book of Scripture) genuineness rests on the testimony of the Church ; and the stating of this must be under- stood to the exclusion of other standards of authenticity, imagined by different descriptions of persons." Q. Is the internal evidence of itself sufficient ? A. Bishop White says,f " There are some who think we need no other evi- dence than the stamp of divinity, which may be traced in the excellent matter contained ; which, by the way, is pre- cisely the argument alleged by the Mus- * Comment, p. 22, vide p. 24. f Comment, p. 22. BISHOP white's opinions. 29 sulmans, to prove the divine authority of their Koran. " i Q. When was the canon of the New Testament_complete ?j A. Bishop White says,* « These (the written records of the Apostles' doc- trine) were not in existence until long after the formation of the Church, and a very large extension of it." Q. Of what use is Tradition ? A. Bishop White says,f " We trust to tradition for the genuineness of every one of the sacred books." * Of the Testimony of the Church to the Books of Scriptural and Church Re£., Mnreh, 1827. f Primitive Facts in Church Reg., Jan. 1826. 30 bishop white's opinions. Section VI. ©f % (Ectrto fafytvs, anb ©rabition "Diligently reading Holy Scripture and ancient authors." — From the Preface to the Ordinal. " The Primitive Church, which is specially to be followed, as most incorrupt and pure." — The Homilies^ p. 207. " And I protest and openly confess, that in all my doctrine and preaching, both of the sacrament and of other mv doctrine, whatsoever it be, not onlv I mean and judge those things as the Catholic Church and the, most holy fathers of old, with one accord, have meant and judged, but also I would gladly use the same words that they used, and not use any other words but to set my hand to all and singular their speeches, phrases, ways, and forms of speech, which they do use in their treatises upon the sacrament, and to keep still their in- terpretation."— Arhp. Cranmer's Appeal, Rem. vol. iv. p. 121, 127. Q. What is the relation of the Early Fathers to Holy Scripture ? A. Bishop White says,* " taking the Holy Scriptures for our principal instruc- tion in this matter, and next to them, * Con. Ser. 1786, p. 28. BISHOP white's OPINION- ol the writings of those who were nearest to the times of the Apostles, There is an unhappy prospensity in mankind to run from any extreme into its opposite. Hence the infallibility claimed by a late claimed by a later human authority hath, in part, prevented the reverence in rea- son due to the earlier : and I cannot think that if ever the church in general should return to the happy medium, we shall be furnished with such faithful expositors as will effectually overthrow r as well the gross errors of the middle ages, as the many fanciful systems which are the abuses of the free speculation of modern times.* Q. How does Bishop White style the Early Fathers ? A. Bishop White speaks* of "the army of martyrs, by whose blood we * Comp. Views, vol. i. p. 425. ( 32 BISHOP white's opinions. have supposed the Church to have been watered, during at least the first three centuries of the Christian era? Q. How does Bishop White style~the remains of the Apostolic Fathers, viz : St. Barnabus, St. Clement, St, Ignatius, St. Poly carp ? A. Bishop White speaks* of them as " the scanty though golden remains of these holy men." Q. How does Bishop White speak of St. Barnabas ? Bishop White says,f « The epistle as- cribed to St. Barnabas is admitted by the best critics to have been his, and is cited by some of the Fathers, who were judges of its traditionary reputa- tion in their times. That companion of the twelve apostles, and bearing the * Comp. Views, vol. i. p, 403, t Lectures, p, 264. bishop white's opinions. 33 name of an apostle himself in the New Testament/' &c. Q. How does Bishop White style St. Clement ? A. Bishop White calls* him "The apostolic and blessed writer." Again, " The Roman Clement,f undoubtedly the person referred to in Philipp. iv. 3, as having c his name written in the book of life,' in his admirable Epistle to the Corinthians." Q. How does Bishop White speak of St. Ignatius ? A. Bishop White callsf him "The venerable Father." Q. How does Bishop White speak of Justin Martyr ? A. Bishop White says§ " Sustin Mar- * Comp. Views, vol. i. p. 406. f Lectures, p. 'J35. iComp. \ »1. i. p. 409. Comp. Views, vol. i. p. 421. 34 bishop white's opinions. tyr, a man celebrated in his own and in every succeeding age ; and constantly appealed to, in proof of the worship and the discipline of the primitive Church." Again, Bishop White calls* Justin " This blessed Martyr.' 5 Q. How does Bishop White speak of Irenaeus ? A. Bishop White says,f "the good bishop of Lyons." He calls him also " celebrated " and " venerable/' and says, " it's (his memory's) fragrance is still fresh to all those who have not adopted the maxim of — no Calvinist, no Christian." Q. How does Bishop White speak of Tertullian ? A. Bishop White says,! " No man is considered as better acquainted with the * Comp. Views, vol. i. p. 423. t Comp. Views, vol. i. p. 426 — 9. I Comp. Views, vol. i. p 430. bihop white's opjnions, 35 state of the Church in his own day, or as more faithful in reporting it" — "It is a known fact that he was never thought heterodox, any further than as relates to the latter part of his life, and to the error of Montanism, into which he then fell. His admirable apology, ad- dressed to the Roman Senate, is, of it- self, sufficient to render his name res- pectable in the Christian Church. This celebrated work was written long before his fall." Q. How does Bishop White style Clemens of Alexandria ? A. Bishop White says,* " It will hardly be said that in the writings of this learned man, there is to be met with anything favorable to Calvinism." Q. What doea Bishop White say o r Orijjen ? * Comp. V vol. i. p. 431. 36 bishop white's opinions. A. Bishop White says,* " Notwith- standing all the intemperate abuse of Origen after his death, succeeding to the honor in which he had been held during his life, it is here supposed that his tes- timony would at all times have been held good, except where his peculiar fancies were concerned." j Q. What does Bishop White say of St. Cyprian ? A. Bishop White says,f "Cyprian, whose orthodoxy has escaped impeach- ment." Q. How does Bishop White speak of Athanasius ? A. Bishop White calls himj " The celebrated Athanasius." Q. How does Bishop White speak of Gregory, of Nazianzum ? * Comp. Views, vol. i. p. 435. See also p. 462. t Comp. Views, vol. i. p. 430. I Com, Views, vol. i. p. 465. BISHOP WHITES OPINIONS. 37 A. Bishop Whit ys,* " Gregory, of Nezianzum, so much celebrated as a model of Christian piety and humility ." Q. How does Bishop White style Basil ? J. Bishop White says,f " Basil, who acquired the title of "the great." This " eminent man." Q What does Bishop White say of Jerom< A. Bishop White says, J "Jerome, whose high rank in the list of Christian writers, there can be no occasion to establish." Q. What does Bishop White say of St. Chrysostom ? A. Bishop White says,§ " The name of Chrysostom deserves to have an especial * Comp. Views, vol. i. p. 464. f Comp, Views, vol. i. p. 414. Comp. Views, vol. i. p. 4 II, j Comp. VieWI, vol. i. p. 447. 2 38 BISHOP white's opinions. stress laid on it, because of his fervent piety and his eminent reputation throughout the Christian world ; for a time, indeed, under a cloud, in conse- quence of a party made against him by the Empress Eudocia; but abundantly cleared,and an object of universal homage after his decease." Q. What comes next to the import- ance of holy scripture, and the proper application of it ? A. Bishop White says,* " Next to the importance of Holy Scripture, and the proper application of it, is that of the history of the early ages of the Church; it being especially understood of the first three centuries." Q. Should careful attention be paid to the early Fathers ? A. Bishop White says,f " It should be * Sem. Address, 1823, p. 10. f Comment, p. 72. BISHOP WIHTl/s OPINIONS. 39 recommended to every candidate to pay a careful attention to the records of the first three centuries of the church, at least to tl, of them which are prin- cipally illustrative of the faith and the discipline of their respective times. This is here recommended with a view to various theological notions of modern times ; for when it shall appear, con- cerning any of these, that, during the ages mentioned, they were not known either in the character of truth or in that of error ; there seems the highest evidence admitted of by the subject, that they cannot have had any place among the truths delivered to us in the gospel." Q. How does Bishop White describe the first three centuries ? A. Bishop White says,* " when we come down to the fourth century, it is * Comp. View.-, vol. i. p, 438. 40 bishop white's opinions. natural to make a pause, and to look back on the preceding centuries, under the light furnished by the records of their transactions, as they stand in Euse- bius. The amazing successes of the heralds of the religion of Jesus, in dif- rerent quarters of the globe ; the perse- cutions brought on Christians, and the fortitude with which they sustained them; the notices of Christian apolo- gists, since lost, generally giving details of the subjects of their compositions ; the accounts of Bishops who had filled the most popular Sees, not without de- lineations of the most conspicuous pro- perties of their characters; these and many other subjects are parts of the his- tory of Eusebius." Q. How do we use tradition ? A. Bishop White says,* " As testi- * Charge, 1807, p. 42. bishop white's opinions. 4 1 mony extraneous to Scripture is the standard for the trying of the authenti- city of any of its books; so, in ascer- taining the sense of any passage of^an acknowledged book, we are not to shut our ey igamat the light which beams on us from the same source." Q. Does our Church use antiquity to (plain Scripture in any important points ? A. Bishop White says,* " On this ground of Scripture, as explained by an- tiquity, our Church retains the succes- sion of the Episcopacy." Q. Would there be fewer differences among professing Christians, were a proper respect had for the testimony of the early Fathers A. Bishop White says,f " It is here • 1 Pge, 1807, p. -1:2. I up. Views, vol. i. p. 508. 42 bishop white's opinions. conceived that the difference would be much less in this respect (of interpreta- tion of the Bible,) if, agreeably to the medium intended to be observed in this division of the work, due deference were paid to the testimonies of the writers of the Church, in the first three centuries ; yet, not without making a considerable distinction between those who were near the source of inspiration, and those who were more remote from it." Q. Is the Protestant Episcopal Church's respect for the early Fathers a distin- guishing feature in her institutions ? A. Bishop White says,* "It is a cir- cumstance in the institutions of the Episcopal Church, distinguishing her from other Protestant communions, that while with her, and with them, the Holy Scriptures are acknowledged to be * Of Prim. Facts, &c. in Church Register, Jan. 1826. bishop white's opinion^. 43 the only rule of faith, great respect is paid by her to what was held by the early Fathers, and has been handed down to us in their writings, and in other au- thentic documents ; not as adding to the Scriptures, but as helping to the inter- pretation of them. It is not here recol- lected that the same deference has been paid to them by any other Protestant communion, which, in addition to the importance of the subject in itself, is a reason for our forming of distinct appre- hensions of this feature on the face of our economy. " Q, Did the faith of the early Fathers vary from that of the Apostles ? A. Bishop White says,* " Nor yet are there any of fault found with early Fathers, for alleged variation from the faith handed down to them by the Apo- * Comp. Vic? L ii. p. 435. 44 BISHOP white's opinions. sties ; but, on the contrary, the honor- able notices of them in the fourth cen- tury, especially in the history of Euse- bius, are lasting monuments of their having left behind them the reputation of an orthodoxy that had never been im- peached." Q. What are some of the advantages to be derived from the records of the first three centuries ? A. Bishop White says,* " Of the ad- vantages to be derived from the records of the first three centuries, it is not the least that they afford unanswerable proof of the absence of what are exclu- sively the tenets of the Roman Catholic Church." Q. Do the early Fathers afford con- siderable aid in interpreting Scrip- ture? * Genl. Theol. Sem. Address, 1823, p. 11, BISHOP WHITE'S opinion-. 45 A. Bishop White s . " "It is con- ceived that the sense of the times im- medialely following the Apostles, must, as a fact, ho a strong testimony on the question of what was the faith which the Apostles handed to them ; and, in that point .of view, may give consider- able aid in the interpreting of Scrip- ture." * Comp. Views, vol. i. p. 398. 46 bishop white's opinions. Section VII. ©f % QCerm " € tljolic," AND OF THE FIRST FOUR GENERAL COUNCILS, AND OF THE " QUOD SEMPER UBIQUE AB OMNIBUS" OF VINCENTIUS. " And I believe one Catholic and x\postolic Church." — Nicene Creed. " Note, that by St. Augustin, such as worshipped the dead, or creatures, be not Catholic Christians." — Homilies, p. 183. Q. What is involved in the term " Catholic?" A. Bishop White says* " In propor- tion as any church, in the present day, comes up to the original idea of Catho- licism, that of teaching what was then of universality as to time and place ; without teaching any thing else, as of * Lectures, p. 37. in of Catholicism." * Lectures, p, 89 50 bishop white's opinions Section VIII. ©f % Cljurd). " O Almighty God, who hast built thy Church upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the head corner stone." — From Collect for S. $. Simon and Jude. " It (the Church) hath always three notes or marks, whereby it is known ; pure and sound doctrine, the Sacraments ministered according to Christ's holy in- stitution, and the right use of ecclesiastical discipline." — Homilies, p. 421. Q. Is the Church Spiritual, to the exclusion of its being visible ? A. Bishop White says* "At the close of his" (Christ's) ministry, various insti- tutions show, that however spiritual his religion, it is not in such sort spiri- tual, as to exclude the idea of an out- ward and visible society." * Sermon at the opening of Convention on the 21st of June, 1786, p, 7. B18HOF white's opinions. 51 Q. How were the Churches united in the early agefl ? A. Bishop White says,* "In the early xes, when the different churches of Christendom, knowing no other com- mon head than Christ, lived in an happy agreement in the same faith under their respective Bishops, and in a delightful mimunion founded on that agreement." How important, then, is the preserva- tion of a faith thus maintained by the Catholic Christian world! Q. Is the existence of the Church a point of Christian doctrine ? A.' Bishop White says,f "it is also no small point of Christian doctrine, that there is held out to us, as of divine in- stitution, a social body, elsewhere known under the name of 'the Church,' and * Con. Sor. 178t». p. 16. f Coi 17SM, p. 13. 52 bishop white's opinions. other descriptive terms; but here (Titus ii. 1 1, 14,) mentioned as a people pe- culiarly owned by the divine founder of their communion. Accordingly, who- ever supposes that he may discharge his Christian obligations, as an individual, without conducting himself as a com- ponent part of that professing body, does not work out his salvation, in the way which has been authoritatively pre- scribed to him." Q. Is the Church, whether we use the word in a comprehensive or national sense, a divine institution ? A. Bishop White says,* "The Church of Christ, whether considered in the comprehensive sense, embracing all the faithful, or as existing in different bodies, according to their respective countries, is not an association resting on the will * Con. Ser. 1809, p. 13. bishop white's opinions. 53 of man, but was instituted under sacra- ments and a ministry of divine origin." Q. What is the bond of union among the widely extended members of the Church ? A. Bishop White says,* " There is still a bond of union among the widely ex- tended members of his (Christ's) fa- mily ; in the acknowledgment of the same Scripture doctrine ; in the use of the same sacraments ; in a ministry ori- ginating from the same source ; and in the exercise of the same Christian cha- rity." Q. Is the Protestant Episcopal Church a branch of the Catholic Church ? A. Bishop White callsf it " A branch of that Catholic Church which is 'built on the foundation of the Apostles and • 1807, p. 13, 11. * Con. Ser. 1808, p. 20. 54 BISHOP white's opinions. Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone.' " Q. What is meant by the expression " faithful men/' as used in our Prayer Book? A. Bishop White says,* " The expres- sion means the professors of the Chris- tian faith ; not implying that all are what their profession requires ; since our Lord has announced that there would be tares among the wheat, and in other ways has described a difference of character within his Church." Section IX. (Df (Episcopacy. " It is evident unto all men, diligently reading Holy Scripture and ancient authors, that from the Apostles' time there have been these Orders of Ministers in * Catec. in Ep. Mag. p. 145, (1820.) bishop white's opinions. 55 'g Church — Bishops, Pri nnd Deacon-."' — >m the J' « to th Wherefore lot us i \r to !*» horoin bold and peremptory, that if any thing in the Church 1 ! ru- men!, rarely t! tion of Bishops wu from iven,wac i of God: the Holy Ghost was the Mfthot of it.* 1 — // ; .or, Ecc. I'oL b. vii. 5. Q. What does the Christian ministry imply ? A. Bishop White says,* "The whole scheme of the Christian ministry, as framed by the Apostles, and handed down to us in succession, implies the intervention of an ecclesiastical order, designated for the purpose." Q. How was ordination conveyed in Apostolic times? A. Bishop White says,t " With the ception of those appointed by our Lord in person, not an instance can be produced of ordination in any other * Comment, p. 13, 11. M 7 - p. 39. 56 BISHOP white's opinions. way than by imposition of the hands of those duly authorized under a commis- sion given by him to that effect." Q. What does the P. E. Churchman say of the Ministry ? A. Bishop White says,* " These or- ders (of the Ministry) say we, three in number, were of apostolic institution, and existed universally in the Church, as now among us, until within a few ages of these later times." Q. Is the ministerial succession a di- vine institution ? A. Bishop White says,f " It appears that a succession in the Ministry was provided by the same high autho- rity which first declared the Gospel itself." Q. What three positions must be estab- * Con. Ser. 1801, p. 22. t Con. Ser. 1808, p. 8. Vide also p. 17. BISHOP white's opinions. 57 lished concerning the Ministry of the Christian Church ? A. Bishop White sa) r s,* " First, it is of divine institution : Secondly, in every local Church,, it is of right independent on all foreign authority or jurisdiction : and, Thirdly, as instituted by Jesus Christ and his Apostles, it includes the three orders of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons." Q. Should the Clergy hesitate to claim for their office a heavenly ori- gin? A. Bishop White says,f " Let there be no hesitation in any Clergyman to claim to his office the title of heavenly origin, which will the more impress him with the sense of the account he is to render of his stewardship." * lecture?, p. 158. | le to primitive antiquity; and without Which we shall be like 'a kii: m divided against itself,' full of 1 confusion and every evil work.'" Q. Can the Church be voluntarily left without sin ? A. Bishop Whit iys,* "That the membership of a divinely instituted so- ciety cannot he voluntarily abandoned without sin, is a proposition which can hardly stand in need of proof." Q. Is the expression, " the Church that is in his house," which occurs in the New Testament, sometimes impro- perly quoted ? A. Bishop White says,f " As this is sometimes quoted in defence of separate • C irge 1*07. p. 35. r C -or. 1809, p. 13. 68 BISHOP white's opinions. and exclusive and even of schismatical meetings for devotion, it is proper that I should guard against such a construc- tion, by remarking, that the churches there mentioned were assemblies of all professing Christians within their re- spective districts, and under the mi- nistry of their proper pastors." Q. What is it not unnatural to con- ceive of the societies who have sepa- rated from the Church ? A. Bishop White says,* " Concerning all these societies, it is not unnatural to conceive, as to what may be deemed error in their systems, that the continu- ance of it has been in a great measure owing to the dropping of the reading of the Scriptures, or else to the reading of them in a very scanty measure. Were there shown any one of them which has * Comment, p. 33-4. BISHOP WHITE'S OPINft TO. H9 returned to primitive integrity in tl rticular, it would be a temptation to predict, that before long such a society •uld abandon the extra- ncies of its original separation." Section XII. (Pf (Cl)antn. That mo client gift of Charity, the very bond of peace, and of all virtue. — Quinquagi sima ( ' Difference of opinion on important religious topics ought not to break the ties of harmony between child- ren of the same common Parent and subjects <>f the pice of the same Redeemer/' — Bp. Hobart, P Aj> v. vi. Q. What should be our action towards those exterior to our Communion ? A. Bishop White says,* "While we avoid the spurious liberality which af- * Sem. Address, 1823. p. 18. 70 BISHOP white's opinions. fects to consider all opinions as on a level, and which generally betrays its unsoundness, by an inconsistency of practice with profession, let us be aware, how much diversity of opinion is the result of a different understanding of words ; what a variety of character is seen in human nature, as constituted by the all-wise Creator ; what allowances are to be made on account of the influ- ence of education and early habit ; and if there were nothing else, what a strong tendency there is in the contrary of the grace of charity, rather to confirm pre- judice than to correct it." Q. Whilst we have kindly feelings to- wards those who differ from us, state what is our only way of being useful in spreading the Gospel ? A. Bishop White says,* " In the por- * Advancemt. Ser. 1813, p. 28. bishop white's opim 7 1 tion of Christendom in which Provi- dence has cast our lot, we do way of being useful to the common cai . hut on the ground of that Apostolic Church of which we are members; and which We believe to have been acted on during fhoa nrly ages, wherein Christianity was the most adorned by the lives and by the »ths of its professors." Q. What should be our sentiments towards those not of the Church? A. Bishop White says,* " Under the diversity of religious sentiment which God has suffered to take place among those who expect salvation through the same Redeemer, there is a debt of cha- rity from us towards all of this d rip- tion, which should make us rejoice in any good accomplished by their labor- Even if, in some instances, evangelical * Advancemt. Scr. p. 72 bishop white's opinions. doctrine should be intermixed with error, we have a better prospect of the issue, as to the temporal and the eter- nal happiness of our fellow-men, than from their being entangled in the snares of infidelity, or from their being aban- doned to entire ignorance of religious truth and duty." Q. Should those who differ from the Church think us uncharitable in our testifying against their principles ? A. Bishop White says*, " There are around us sundry communions of pro- fessing Christians, whose peculiar tenets are contradicted by our articles, with an explicitness not permitting mistake ; and it is to be hoped, that no religious and virtuous members of such bodies w T ill suppose us possessed of the less esteem for their persons, on account of * Comment, p. 78. BISHOP whitk's opinion- 73 the testimonies which we hold our- bound to bear against their opi- nions." Q. D Christian charity to all who differ, involve any yielding of con- scientious points of difference I .1. Bishop White says,* "There arc sonic, indeed, who to show how much they soar above illiherality of religious ntiinent, would throw down every rrier dividing our communion from some others in visible administration, hecause th think the existing differ- ences are of no importance. Among th< jections to such a plan, it is not the least, that it tends to the disturbance of p and charity; whilst the secu- ring of tl is its professed object. And such must he the effect, unless these mistaken promoters of unity c * Comment, p. 119. 3 74 bishop white's opinions. persuade one of two parties, whom they may at any time aim to reconcile, to give up points which they think in- volved in Christian verity. So far as there have been attempts to draw the Episcopal Church into this plan, liberal as some conceive, the design has uni- formly exacted the sacrifice of the prom- inent characteristics of our system." Q. Should our charity lead to the giving up of our distinctive principles ? A. Bishop White says*, " Whatever has a tendency to shake the constitution of the Christian ministry, believed by us to have been handed down from the Apostles, or to obtrude on us any mode of worship diverse from the forms con- sidered by us as agreeable to Scripture and primitive antiquity, or either to dis- pense with our doctrinal articles on the * Genl. Theo. Sem. Address, 1822, p. 4. BI8H0P white's opinions, 75 one hand, or to enlarge them by dogmas not irly comprehended in them on the other, is not the latitude here pleaded for." Q. May pride be connected with zeal ? A. Bishop White says*, " It may happen that pride, like a poisonous weed, shall entwine itself with the plant of a holy zeal, and the zealot may be as- sured of a fact, now declared to him from the experience of many years, that the case is not unfrequent, when faulty passion being permitted to intrude into the cause of God, there have been con- tracted habits of depreciating the char- acters of brethren in the ministry, not only contrary to the demands of charity and of justice, but ensnarinj; to the con- sciences of the cen.surers, and rendering * GeflL Theol. Sem. Address, 1823, p. 19, 76 bishop white's opinions. them the more liable to a great variety of temptation." Q. Should differences in religious sen- timent be accommodated, to the destruc- tion of order ? A. Bishop White says*, "And even in regard to difference of religious senti- ment, it is better manifested by respect and candor ; and especially by the pre- venting of the intrusion of our angry passions within the sacred sphere of the discussion of religious truth, than by an accommodation which destroys order. And indeed this, while its professed ob- ject is love and peace, is frequently the occasion of divisions, more and worse than those which it is solicitous to re- move. 5 ' Q. Should charity lead to a yielding of our distinctive claims ? * Charge 1807, p. 46. bishop white's opinions. 77 A. Bishop White says*, "If tin claims (of charity) are to set aside what- ever distinguishes us from many whom we cannot but esteem and lovej and of whose Christian temper. and conduct we must have had ample evidence ; there is not any one of our services, or either of our sacraments, which we shall retain." Q, I- ry difference of opinion ma- i ? Am Bishop White saysf, " It is not v shade of difference in opinion that will warrant the minister to throw on it the odium of material error ; and the danger of confounding the two is an ad- ditional reason for requiring a sufficiency of intellectual information as a qualifi- ition for the ministry; because this I fail to operate as a counterpoise to pride and passion, in their tendency * Charge 1807, p. ument. p. 93. 78 bishop white's opinions. to intolerance ; not indeed eradicating those principles where they have taken possession of the heart, but restraining them from the excesses which are the result of ignorance." Q. Does charity demand a sacrifice of principle, from tenderness to the feel- ings of others ? A. Bishop White says*, "Does it fol- low, that a minister of our Church ought to hesitate, either in the pulpit or in his private intercourse, to advocate any of her distinctive doctrines, as occasion may require ; by a sacrifice of them to what, in his judgment, are the errors of opposing sects, and from a tender- ness to their feelings ? No such matter is intended." Q. What are the requisitions of evan- gelical charity? *Gen. Theol. Sem. Address, 1827, p. 12. bishop white's OPINION-. 79 A. Bishop Win ivs*, "Therequi- tions o( this « (of charity) are con- sidered by him (Bishop White) as so imperious in dictating the foi irance of every species of violence of language or of passion, in reference to diversity of opinion, that he has no hesitation in counselling you, t \tend to the illib- eral, a liberality consistent with a regard for sacred truth: or, by the substitution of a word more definite and more con- sistent with the law of language, to make even the intolerant the subjects of your toleration." Q. Should not courtesy ever accompany the presentation of truth ? A. Bishop White says*, " In the dis- ci n of controverted points, even in reference to infidels, and still more when there is a bearing on those who profess * Geo. TheoL S<'m., Add > p. 16. - in., Iriiliwii 1829, p. 10. 80 BISHOP white's opinions. to worship the same God, through the same Mediator Jesus Christ; while there should be no hesitation to an- nounce explicitly the truth as it is con- ceived to be declared in Scripture, it should be exempt from indecorous and from reproachful language/' Section XIII. (Df JSjmrious Ciboralitg. " Saying, peace, peace ; when there is no peace.'' — Jerem. vi. 14. " And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. v — Coloss. ii. 4. Q. Is there a specious plea of liber- ality ? A. Bishop White says*, "There is set up a specious but delusive plea of * Genl. Sem. Address, 1827, p. 12. BISHOP wiiiti.'> OPINIONS. 81 liberality, occasionally inviting us to join in religious exercises, in which all distinctive principles are to be lost sight of, and there is to be the sole object of inculcating the truths on Which the par- ties are agreed. In the profession of the principle, there is the varnish of ap- parent philanthropy, reconciling to it some well intentioned persons; while it is perceived by others to be an expedi- ent for the introducing of an extraneous influence within the sphere of our com- munion. The ground thus taken has never been acted on consistently, so far as the present speaker is informed, for any considerable length of time ; and there has soon been betrayed the undis- guised spirit of proselvtism, and of the bearing of an exterior influence on our concerns. The consequence lias been, in various places, that among neighbors and professors of a common Christianity. 82 bishop white's opinions.. there have been induced controversies and hostile feelings not known before." Q. Should we comply with a spurious liberality ? A. Bishop White says*, " Let not this be understood as countenancing the set- ting loose to any material requisition in faith or in discipline, or in worship : much less the relinquishing of it, from compliance with the spurious liberality, which would draw us into a course of conduct, that must end in prostrating our communion to the domination of some other, now conceived of by us as less rational and less evangelical than our own." Q. May there be an affectation of lib- erality ? A. Bishop White saysf, " There have been some ministers of our communion * Charge 1825, p. 21. t Comment, p. 87. BISHOP WHITE'S opinions. 83 who, from affectation of liberality, ha\ encouraged under their superintendence ministerial doings implying an entire disregard of epw al sanction. Even in regard to the professed charity of such a practice, it is in appearance only ; because charity will always be best manifested in forbearance towards those who differ from us; and in thinking well of their motives and of their per- sons, so far as circumstances may war- rant, rather than in sacrificing our prin- ciples to theirs." Q. Is there a danger of being too sen- sitive to the feelings of those who dis- sent from us ? A. Bishop White says,* " There is the opposite danger, of being so sensitive to th' j feelings of those who dissent from the distinctive principles of our Church, • Gen. ThooL Sem. Address, 1829, p. 11. 84 bishop white's opinions. that such, their discrepancies, ought never to be presented to congregational view; which, we are told, should be limited to what are contended to be the only essential doctrines of Christianity assented to by all who deserve the name of Christians, In contrariety to this it is here maintained to be inconsistent with ministerial fidelity, to keep back purposely, any truth believed to be con- tained in Scripture ; although the time of propounding it, and the question of its pertinency are points subjected to the determinations of Christian pru- dence." Section XIV. ©f l\)t Sacraments. Q. What meanest thou by this word Sacrament ? A. I mean an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace, given unto us ; ordained by Christ bishop white's opinions. 85 himself; as a moans whereby we receive the nam and a pledge to assure us thereof."' — Church ( hi. ind peculiarly, what due reverence it to l>e used in the ministering of the Sacraments in the Temple, the same St. Paul teacheth to the Corinthian*, rebukii such as did unreverently use themselves in that behalf. The Homilies. /'. 161. "Pardon, salvation, and grace, the inestimable hie— - ingl of this -acred ordinance, are conveyed only to the ntuE Believe*.* 1 — H}>. Hobart. Co mpanio n for thr I 111. My body,' says the Redeemer, v is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed ;' our souls are strength- ened and refreshed by the body and blood of Chn pr- v in the same way. as our bodies are by bread and wine. It forms the aliment of our immortal prin- cipk — aliment provided by the Lord Jesus to strengthen the way-faring man on his journey to the eternal world." — Bp. Moor&i of Vvrg xnia. Cane. 8er. pp. 9, 10. Q. Why was the word " generally" inserted in the answer in the Catechism on the subject of the Sacraments ? A. Bishop White says,* " The word " generally" was inserted, with a refer- ence to the want of opportunity. It would have been inconsistent and unau- res, p. 1 If 86 bishop white's opinions. thorized to have said this, for the dis- pensing with observation of the ordi- nances, in regard to any. But it was well to guard against the uneasiness which might be occasioned to sincere persons, who are not favored with the means. Under such circumstances, God dispenses by the course of his provi- dence, with an obligation which man cannot abrogate or lessen, in any in- stance." Section XV. ©f Baptismal ^generation. *■ " ^Baptism is not only a sign of professsion, and mar* of: difference, whereby Christian men are discerned from others that be not christened ; but it is also a sign of regeneration, or new birth." — From Art. XXV II. " He hath also ordained one visible Sacrament of spiritual regeneration in water.'' — Arbp. Cranmer , vol. ii, p. 302. BISHOP WHITE'S OPINIONS. ^7 The Church t the promise ofChrist, that he wiU holy spirit to thoM who ask it. W( itly instructed lopplicate a Gi bild now to be baptiz- he l'ul: M 88 ol his <>: md r remain in the number of his faithful children. 1 And again, ' We call upon tin e tor thi> infant, that he, Coming to thy ho in, may r B rem i of spiritual regen^ratioi A I r the performance , tli • Church Keeping in new the petitions which have been i 1 up in behali I the disciple, and confiding in the fulfilment of the pro- to return thanks to the Al- mighty, that • it bat laaod him to the infant with his Holy Spirit, to receive him fof his own child by adoption, and t him into his holy lurch." — of. Moore, of 1 "ginia. I . >• r. j>. 8. Q. Is baptismal regeneration a Church doctrine ? A. Bishop White says*, " So far as the duty of a conventional preacher is concerned, the author is of opinion that th< should be carefully avoided all questions on which the sense of the Episcopal Church is doubtful: but it is to be lamented, that there should be * Memoirs, p. l'36. 88 bishop white's opinions. brought under this head a doctrine, i. e. Baptismal Regeneration, which we have been taught to lisp in the earliest repe- titions of our Catechism; which per- vades sundry of our devotional services, especially the baptismal ; which is af- firmed in our articles also ; which was confessedly held and taught during the ages of the martyrs ; and the belief of which was universal in the Church until it was perceived to be inconsistent with a religious theory, the beginning and the progress of which can be as dis- tinctly traced, as those of any error of popery/ 5 Q. Why does the Church retain the term " regeneration" in connexion with baptism ? A. Bishop White says,* " The phrase- ology of the Church, in this particular, * Comment, p. 207. HMOf WHITlfs OPINIONS. 89 thing but a continuation of that of all Christendom, until the compiling of the Liturgy, and for some time after." Q. How does our Church consider baptism ? A. Bishop White says,* " Our Church considers this ordinance as an actual grafting into the Church, without any such distinction as the one invented be- tween a visible and an invisible society under that name." Q. Who are the legitimate children of the Church ? A. Bishop White says,f " She (the Church) considers as her legitimate children all who, having been brought within her communion by the regenera- ting rite of baptism, have not swerved, in conduct, from the profession therein made by them, or in their name," * Comment, p. 83. t Con. Ser. 1801, p. 20. 90 bishop white's opinions. Q. Give another quotation from Bishop White. A. Bishop White says/ " To the in- sertion of this prayer (a prayer proposed to be inserted instead of the one in the confirmation service) — there have been made two objections — the first is, that it would add to the sanction given to the doctrine of baptismal regeneration con- fessedly contained in the original prayer. But ! what a purgation must there be of our articles, of our services, and of our homilies, if this prejudice is to be com- plied with!" Q. What blessing does baptism con- fer on infants ? A. Bishop White says,f "Their na- ture is sanctified by the possession of grace bestowed in baptism : a grace which if improved, is sufficient for the * Memoirs, p. 254. f Comp. Views, voL i. p. 254. bishop wiiitk's opinions. 91 exigencies of future life; and therefore sufficient to prepare them for early death." Attain, Bishop White says,* " Con- cerning infants brought to Christ by baptism, it is a Scriptural truth, not con- tradicted within the first fifteen hundred years of the Christian era, that they are made His by baptismal regeneration: under which term there is here included not a moral change, but partly the being begotten again to immortality, spoken of in 1 Peter, i. 3 ; and partly the new character assured to them in a federal in- stitution, in which the aids of the Holy Spirit are stipulated to them on the part of God." Q. Is "baptismal regeneration" an erro: A. Bishop White says,f " If there be * Comp. Ywws.vol. i. p. 1270, 271. f Comp. Views, vol. ii. p. 161. 92 bishop white's opinions. error in what she (the Church) affirms concerning baptismal regeneration; it is an error which has shed its baneful in- fluence throughout her system. On such a supposition, the baptismal services are a gross deception on the parents and the sponsors. Nor is this the worst. As soon as the infant becomes capable of lisping his catechism, he is taught to say, that he receives his name in bap- tism, adding, ' Wherein I was made a member of Christ, the child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven.' How full of delusion to the youthful mind; if there be a moral certainty in regard to the great mass of those for whom the answer was intended, that they are the children of the devil and the apparent inheritors of his kingdom ; until rescued from him by a conversion, for which they are not yet ripe !" Q. Is the denial of baptismal re- BISHOP white's opinions. 93 generation the source of many er- rors I A. Bishop White says,* "he is free to declare that he knows of no one error, into which so many errors of modern times resolve themselves, as that of quitting the ground of baptismal regen- eration; which, as is here conceived, and of which proof will be endeavored, s not only delivered by Christ and his Apostles, but reigned in the Church without contradiction, until within three centuries of the present time." Q. Are the benefits of baptism im- portant ? A. Bishop White says,f " It would seem, that the Church contemplated the benefit of baptism as so important, and was so desirous of conveying her sense of the nature of the institution, that she * Comp. Views, vol. ii. p. 276. f Lectures, p. 7. 94 bishop white's opinions. designedly varied her phrases, in order that no room should be left to doubt of the Christian state of any person, duly entered by baptism into the visible pro- fession of Christianity." Section XVI. ©f Jxzqnmt (Hommunton. u It is an easy matter for a man to say, I will not communicate, because I am otherwise hindered with worldly business. But such excuses are not so easily accepted and allowed before God." — From the Exhor- tation in the Holy Communion Office. " The primitive Christians viewed it (the Lord's Supper) as replete with the greatest blessings. By its frequent use their minds were strengthened and re- freshed. It prepared them for the conflicts they had to endure. It nerved their arm, it animated their hearts ; and should we live to see it as duly appreciated as it was by them, and as frequently observed as it was in primitive times, that coldness and apathy which distin- guishes Christians of the present day, would give place to a spirit of the most sublimating devotion ; and the life and power of religion warm every heart. It is a fountain of spiritual life ; let us use the medicated means. It is a well of salvation opened in the bosom hisiiop whitf/s opinion- 95 oft! t: le! 09 drink of the salutary strofim tnd live tor ever.* — Bishop Mo r of Virginia. Com 10. Q. Of what is the mere occasional celebration of the Holy Communion proof I A. Bishop White says,* "Its being attended to in our Churches only monthly, and on the three principal fes- tivals, is our of the many proofs exist- ing, that the piety of Christians is not » ardent as in the beginning. There are few facts more satisfactorily proved, than that of the eucharist having been administered in the primitive Church every Lord's day. Accordingly, it seems unaccountable, that in some religious societies, in which it is administered seldomrr than among us, they even cen- sure the administration of it more fre- • * Comment, p. 195. 96 BISHOP white's opinions. quently than is customary among them- selves ; and hold it to be contrary to Godly discipline." Section XVII. (8)f t\)t Vist of a $r0tl)esi0 or Qxbt Sable for i\)t (£kimnt0. u And the Priest shall then place upon the Table so much Bread and Wine as he shall think sufficient." — Rubric in the Holy Communion Office. " Let all things be done decently and in order." — 1 Corinth, xiv. 40. Q. Is a Prothesis or side table for the Elements in the Lord's Supper, re- quired ? A. Bishop White says,* " This (the Rubric directing the elements to be placed on the altar just before the prayer * Comment, p. 201. 202 r.isHOP white's opinions. 97 for Christ's Church militant) must have been in imitation of the primitive Church; in which there was a prothe- sis or side table, lor the previous recep- tion of the Elements. The priest's re- moving of them to the Lord's table was considered as an official act. It is not agreeable to the present writer's habits of thinking, to lay too much stress on matters of order; but as the provision now noticed was designed to be an act of devotion, although not accompanied by words, he wishes for the restoration of it, by the reducing of practice to the existing rule." Section XVIII. (Df Catccljising. "The Mil. »f every Parish shall diligently, upon Sund iys and Holy D.iys, or on some at nvenient occasions, openly in the Church, instruct or examine 98 BISHOP white's opinions. so many children of his Parish, sent unto him, as he shall think convenient, in some part of this Catechism." — First Rubric after Catechism- " The Ministers of this Church who have charge of parishes or cures, shall not only be diligent in instruct- ing the children in the Catechism, but shall also, by stated catechetical lectures and instruction, be diligent in informing the young ,nd others in the Doctrines, Constitution, and Liturgy of the Church." — Canon xxviii. of 1832. Q. Is Catechising one of the most im- portant duties ? A. Bishop White says,* " The house of Bishops thought it expedient to make a solemn call on the attention of the clergy in relation to the 22d (now 28th of 1832) Canon, which enjoins on them diligence in catechetical instruction and lectures. The Bishops consider these as among the most important duties of clergymen, and among the most effectual means of promoting religious knowledge and practical piety ." * Memoirs, p. 41. BISHOP WHTTE'l OPINIONi 99 Q. What is the meaning assigned by 'judicious divines 1 b term catecheti- cal instruction ? A. Bishop White says,* "By this term, they moan tin- repeating over and over of the same primary truths of reli- gion, until they are made familiar to the minds of the instructed : a work much more useful to them than what is under- stood under the name of preaching : al- though not opening a like field for the ingenuity or for the eloquence of the teacher.' Section XIX CDf forms of pramr. 1 And II b id unto them, When ye pray, sav, " Our r which art in If t\u." — ,S7. Luh ,\i. 2. u It (a 1 f Prayer) prevents that pride of feeling * Lectures, p. 3. 100 BISHOP white's opinions. from contaminating our devotion, which often arises from individual effort ; it animates the humble suppliant in his addresses to the Almighty ; it helps him in his ap- proaches to a throne of grace. The mind of a worship- ping assembly, instead of hanging upon the lips of a public teacher, waiting for his expressions, and sitting in judgment upon the doctrines those expressions con- tain ; ' instead of admiring the ornaments of the ves- sels, through which the waters of healing flow, bend down their heads in humility to drink of the life-giving stream ;' instead of depending upon the production of the moment, they have the collective wisdom and piety of ages, to assist them. Thus blessed, their attention is fixed upon God alone, and a system of devotion secured, dignified and solemn in its expression, Scriptural, and agreeable to the truth. ,? — Bishop Moore, of Virginia^ Con. Ser., p. 5, 6. Q. Does our Church think herself warranted in prescribing a form of prayer ? A. Bishop White says,* " She thinks it warranted by the practice of the Church in the earliest ages, as far back as any remains of that practice are to be traced; and not by that only, but by the attendance of our Lord, on the prescribed * Charge 1807, p. 28. bishop white's opinions. 101 devotions of the temple and of the syna- gogue ; the evidences that they were established forms being equally authen- tic with those of the four books, con- taining the history of his blessed life." Q. Are forms of prayer useful ? A. Bishop White says,* " There can hardly be a more effectual way of hold- ing up to the minds of a congregation the truths of Christianity, than through the medium of their being comprehended in rational and evangelical services of devotion." Q. What is our defence against at- tacks on our forms ? A. Bishop White says,f " But, when it is alleged, that we advocate forms of devotion in preference to the spirit of it, we recollect, that without prescribed words, not less than with them, there * Commment., p. 176. t Ch. Con. Bar. 1825, p. 11. 192 bishop white's opinions. may be the form without the spirit of prayer, and that, to either or to both of them there may be applied the passage of Scripture, which speaks of i having a form of Godliness and denying the power thereof;' the form, that is the show, or the appearance; for such is strictly the meaning of the original; and not forms of prayer, on which the passage has no bearing." Q. Are forms of prayer a safeguard ? A. Bishop White says,f " Of the many advantages of an authoritative form (of prayer) this is not the least, that it preaches the Gospel to the people, when they would look for it in vain from the officiating Minister." Q. Is the charge of formality justly made against us ? A. Bishop White says,f " We ought * Commentaries, p. 176, 177. f Gen. Theo. Sem. Address, 1828, p. 9. bishop wiiitf/s opini n 103 not to be charged with formaliiw when ■ have for our sanction divine institu- tion under the law ; and the attendance of our Saviour and of his Apostles, as Well on the worship of the synagogue as on that of the temple." Sectioh XX. OPINIONS, 105 with a bearing on the proscribed servi< not guarded by the intimation, that for- mality may attach to devotions of any description; it is impossible, but that in the minds of hearers whose attention is chained to his instructions, and with whom he is perhaps a sort of oracle, there will ensue an ideal association be- tween our Liturgy and deadness to the life and powrr <>t Godliness." Q. Should the Liturgy be carefully guarded ? A. Bishop White says,* " Every se- rious Clergyman of our Church, inde- pendently of the promises made by him of conformity to the Liturgy, ought to be careful not to contribute to the pulling down of this venerable enclosure of our orthod . by substituting any of the * Commentaries p. IT" 106 bishop white's opinions. practices with which that sacred pro- perty of it may seem unconnected." Q. Are the responses requisite to the full efficacy of our services ? A. Bishop White says,* "The ser- vice is such as no wise men would have prepared, except with the expectation that the people would perform their part by being responsive to the Minister." Q. Should kneeling be practised in our service ? \ A. Bishop White says,f "If any should hesitate to kneel in prayer, not- withstanding the examples in Scripture to the effect, let them be aware how lit- tle they appear to feel their character of sinners, in their approaches to the mercy seat of a holy God." Q. Should we reject a matter merely * Considerations, p, 3. f Considerations, p. 3. BfflBOff WIITTl/s OPIM \S. \(H because it occurs in the Roman Catholic Ritual ? A. Bishop White says,* " I am sorry that our Reformers did not make use of the other term (iirst day of the week) in our. Liturgy; icially as it is con- stantly used in the Roman Catholic ritual; from which it was a professed object not to deviate unnecessarily." Section XXI (Df Daily |)rager in tlje (Cl)urcl). all be rh once every month, . both t -r Itormilg and E 7( ning Pi ike Pr ' . ■her into the torn- hour of pr- ing the ninth hour.' 1 — The :. 1. m a iir at many of n- | Baiiy, in ti. . \\ ho disdain to come iiit ihhof the wry * Three letters to Ed. A. Q. Rev., p. 4. 108 BISHOP white's opinions. name of the Jews, when we hear it. as if a most wicked and ungodly people. But it is to be feared, that in this point we be far worse than the Jews, and that they shall rise at the day of Judgment to our condemnation, who in comparison of them, shew such slackness and con- tempt in resorting to the house of the Lord, there to serve him, according as we are of duty most bound." — The Homilies, p. 156. Q. Is it notorious that the Calendar was constructed with a view to the daily Morning and Evening Service ? A. Bishop White uses the following expression,* " The notoriety that the Calendar was constructed with a view to a daily morning and evening service." Q. Do our, and our mother Church, ap- prove of services on other days than Sunday ? A. Bishop White says,f " The said Churches keep up the practice of the primitive Church, in regard to what were called her stationary days, in which * Memoirs, p. 53. f Lectures, p. 489, 490. bishop white's opinions. 109 her assemblies were held within th compass of the week. It is certainU the case, that there are a considerable proportion of Christian people, who can- not conveniently, and who ought not to leave their worldly occupations, for a compliance with these intermediate oc- casions of devotion. On the other hand, there are in every populous vicinity, not a few who may profit by this means of keeping alive the flame of devout affec- tion." Q. What does Bishop White say of the Litany or " Prayer" days ? A. Bishop White says,* "The obser- vance of them in the Episcopal Church, is a continuation of what was known in the primitive aires, under the name of " Stationary Days." As they come to us through the channel of our mother * Con-julerationss p. 3. 4 1 10 bishop white's opinions. Church, the intended extent of the ob- servance of them should be learned from her Canons. The fifteenth ex- presses the wish, that every householder, living within half a mile of the Church, would come or send one at least of his household, to join with the minister in prayers." " There are few families, who may not spare a member for the purpose; and of heads of families possessing leisure, it would be an edifying example if they were to give encouragement to a practice which has been dear to many godly persons, from the earliest ages to the present." Bishop White,* speaking of the sub- ject of Church psalmody, notices with- out disapprobation the daily prayer in an English Church. " The author is * Thoughts on the Singing of Psalms, p. 3. note. bishop white's opinions. 11 1 strengthened in his opinion by inspec- tion of a small book in his possession, containing selectioi psalms and tunes purportir to be sung in the Parish Church of St, James, Westminster. In that Church there is morning and eve- ning service daily throughout the y ear, and vet the number of tunes is twenty." Q. What is " no slender evidence of a devotional spirit V s A. Bishop White says,* " It will pro- bal)lv be no slender evidence of a devo- tional spirit, if it cause an habitual attendance on the service of the Church, when it is performed in a severance from the instructions and the exhorta- tions of the pulpit : a practice which we have inherited from the Church of Eng- land, and which will always be cherished by many devout people, whose duties of * Gen. Theo. Bent Address, 1829, p. 16. 1 12 BISHOP white's opinions. life permit their withdrawing of a small portion of their time from their worldly occupations, for an attendance on the strictly speaking devotional services of the sanctuary." Section XXII. ©f $olu IDags emir tjjnr Gbbsttvanct. u The memory of the just is blessed." — Prov. x. 7. " Then the Minister shall declare unto the people what Holy days, or Fasting days, are in the week fol- lowing to be observed." — Rubric in the Prayer Book. " There appeareth at these days great slackness and negligence of a great sort of people, in resorting to the Church, there to serve God their Heavenly Father, ac- cording to their most bounden duty." — Homilies, p. 151. Q. Is there superstition in the obser- vance of our Church's festival days ? A. Bishop White, in a sermon on the festival of the Holy Innocents, says,* *P. 3, 4, bishop white's opink Nfl 113 " Although there is danger in the laying undue rtresfl on any observances which religious discretion has {ire- scribed; yet if there be wisdom in the appointment of occasional days for the acknowledging of local and temporal benefits, there cannot be superstition in the annual commemoration of events, in rich the whole Christian world is in- terested, and which are connected with all our spiritual interests and hopes." Q. Does the Church provide that the holy days shall be celebrated ? A. Bishop White says,* " The Church has provided, that the slaughter of the babes of Bethlehem shall be annually collected in our devotions." Q. Are the Epistles and Gospels, ;>ecially those for the holy days, most la ? A. Bishop White says,f "It may be * Srrmon on t: I stival of the Holy Innocents, p. 1. lemoirs, p. 246. 1 14 bishop white's opinions. questioned, whether their judicious se- lection had not the effect, in the middle ages, in preventing the corruptions of Christianity from being greater than we find them to have been; for when it was rare to find a Bible in the hands even of men of education, those precious por- tions of it must have had some effect, although in Latin. At the Reformation, they were retained by the most respect- able of the Protestant Churches; the English, the Lutheran in Sweden, Den- mark, Germany and America ; all which, with the addition of the American, con- tinue the use of them to the present day ; and with so high an esteem of them, that in some of these Churches, the preacher is expected to take his sub- ject from this selection/' Q. Can the observance of the principal Holy Days be safely omitted ? A. Bishop White saysf, " They can * Commentaries, p. 159. BISHOP white's opinion-. 1 15 hardly be overlooked by any minister, without his giving of cause to suspect the soundness of his faith. Section XXIII. (CH tl]c (Dbjcct of Religious Assemblies, a\\b of 2Coiicltn in Sermons. • I* - v. - tt< n. My H ;he House of Praye^ — N\ L ' . \;.\. 46. •• I3ut refuse profane and old wives 1 fables, and exer- cise thyself rather unto godli " — l Tim. iv. 7. M For all the Athenians and strangers which were the^ nt their time in nothing else, hut either to tell or to hear some new thing." — The A '>. wii. 21, Q. What is the consistent Church- man's view of religious assemhlies ? Am Bishop White says,* "It is a re- mark frequent in the mouths of con- sistent members of our communion, * Comment, p. 135. 1 16 BISHOP white's opinions. that the chief design of holding reli- gious assemblies, should be the engaging in the exercises of worship," (as dis- tinguished from preaching.) Q. What is the end of religious as- sembling ? A. Bishop White says,* " The end of religious assembling, is for the worship of Almighty God, which is proof that the due ordering of this, ought to be the principal concern of those" who have the conducting of it, and the principal ob- ject of the attendants." Q. May "the principal object" of religious assembling be lost sight of by an incorrect view of preaching ? A. Bishop White says,f " There are many, however, who are ardent in their desires for the hearing of sermons; while by their late coming to the pray- * Gen. Theol. Sem, Address, 1829, p. 14. f Gen. Theo. Sem= Address, 1829, p. 15. BISHOP WHITE'S OPINIONS. 117 ers, by the little interest manifi art ! in them, and by contriving, in proportion to any influence which they may pos- sess, to dispense With as much of the prayers and of the reading of the Scrip- tures, ;;- shall be thought consistent with decorum, they manif an une- qui\ 1 symptom of incorrect views of religion generally . M Q. What are the principal objects for which Christians should mble ? A. Bishop White saj s,* " This Church like the Church from which she is de- scended, lays the greater stress on a ju- dicious arrangement of forms of prayer; from the opinion entertained, that joint devotion, and the reading and the hear- ing of the Scriptures, are the principal object for which Christians should as- sembh By the same track of senti- * Lecturr?, p. 490. 1 18 bishop white's opinions. ment, they have been led to accommo- date their offices, to the being used with or without the accompaniment of a ser- mon. It is not from the w T ant of due esteem of the benefit of the latter, but from respect to the prominent import- ance of the other." Q. Is novelty possible in religious subjects ? A. Bishop White says,* " On reli- gious subjects, it is difficult to find out, for persons habitually attendant in the House of God, either general arguments or appropriate remarks, which shall be entirely new to them. Besides, it may be affirmed of any preacher, with whom the doing so is a favorite object, that he will be less likely to feed them with the solid and wholesome food of evangelical instruction, than with the * Comment, p. 1 37, BISHOP WHITF/S OPINIONS. 1 19 frothy garnish of some empty Conceits; or perhaps with the deadly poison of me dangerous errors." Q, What was the character of primi- tive preaching I A. Bishop White says,* "It is said, that within the first two or three centu- ries, the usual practice of the Christian clergy was, after the prayers, to make a discourse in explanation of some part of Scripture, with an improvement of it, all in the utmost simplicity of style.'" Q. Is " an extraordinary appetite" for sermons a certain test of a " well di- gested theory of religion A. Bishop White ^.f "It would, how r, be a mistake to infer that the use of the pulpit will he in proportion to the number of sermons from it. This is so far from being the i , that an extraordinary appetite for them, espe- * Comment, p. 164. t Gen. Sem. Address, 1829, p. II 120 bishop white's opinions. cially when it carries in quest of great variety, is seldom found in alliance either with an eminent adorning of the profession, or with a consistent and well digested theory of religion." Q. Is reading the Holy Scriptures " preaching ?" A. Bishop White says,* "He (the Minister) may be said more strictly and authoritatively to preach, when he deliv- ers the same truths (of Holy Writ) in the form in which the Holy Ghost has been pleased to indite them. Accordingly, that reading of the Scriptures in Churches is preaching, may be gathered from what we find said by St. James, in his speech to the Apostles and Elders assembled in Jerusalem — c Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues 'every Sabbath- day. 5 " * Lectures, p. 499. BISHOP WHITE'S OPINIONS. 121 Section XXIV. (Of JJnsuborbinotioil anb Irregularity. •• I Ibey them that have the rule over you, and inb- uilt your .'' — // xiii. 17. Q, Will you reverently obey your Bishop, and other chief' ministers, who, according to the Canons of the Church, may have the charge and government < you : following, with a glad mind and will, their godly admonitions, and n&btnitting yourselves to their godly judfrmeii \. 1 will so do. the Lord being my helper.* 1 — From the Ordinal. i' r where there fa no riirht order, there reigneth all I trnal liberty, enormity. .-in. and Babylonical confusion." — Homi 104. Q. What evil must be guarded against in connexion with the Church's laws ! A. Bishop White says,* " It is that of a man's entering the Church, not contemplating the being subject to the Canons, and conducting his subsequent ministry in defiance of them, and of the authority by which they were ordained." * Comment, p. 21. 122 bishop white's opinions. Q. Is the abbreviating of the Liturgy a fault ? A % Bishop White says,* " When we hear of a minister's abbreviating of the appointed service, and of his being co- pious in that unappointed, if permitted part, in which his own conceptions are brought forward; we may perceive plainly enough, that he considers the whole of the former as needless tram- mels on him, however he may partially conform to it for the sake of decorum to his engagements ; or perhaps from being aware, that a proportion of his hearers entertain a predilection for the Church into which he has intruded." Q. Should there not be a due regard to the discipline of our Church, and to the order of its services ? * Commment., p. 178. BI8H0P WHITE'S opinion-. 1*23 (. Bishop Whil ys,* M With some, the n is of the Church have had little weight in this matter, although consented to by their voluntary promi- in the act of their admission to the ministry. What aggravates the guilt of sucli conduct, is the godly zeal which has b< prof. 1 as its cause, and the apology for it. Strange perversion ! to suppose that Godliness can, in any way, sup« ie the eternal maxims of moral obligation ; or justify men in making stipulations, which they have no inten- tion of complying with. But as the end, if it had been good, would not hfl iled the m« ; so the general tendency of such a zeal, is to confusion and i il work." Q. Has the Church ever had a cause • Ord. Ser., 1825, p. 17, 18. 124 bishop white's opinions. of regret in the deviations from her pre- scribed services ? A. Bishop White says,* " The other cause of regret was, in some ministers' deviations from the clear senses of these answers in the services, which give the pledge of adherence to our Liturgy ; and of submission to an authority recognized by our system of ecclesiastical govern- ment, and by the Canons. It is impos- sible, that this conduct can be vindicated by any professions of piety, supposing them to be sincere ; but I must declare the opinion, that it has been chiefly owing either to vanity or, under the most favorable circumstances, to views of the dispensations of grace, differing from those sustained in the Church of England, and in this Church. The most favorable interpretation to be put on * Commentaries, Pref. add. p. 12. bishop WHITE'! opinions. 125 .such i s, is that the parties, perhaps insensibly to themselves, have no pre- ference of our ministry, otherwise than as it is a door to our Churches, not oth- erwise to be entered." Q. Should we resist any deterioration of the Church's institutions? L Bishop White says,* "Against every thing of this sort, of possible in- jury to the Church, by any threatened deterioration of her institutions, it is his design, under Divine permission, to bear his testimony; and, so far as it may be in his power, to put forth his best en- deavors, to the latest period of his life." Q. Is " unauthorized authority" more arbitrary than leu r al ? A. Bishop White says,f " Any inva- sion of his (the Bishop's) just rights, will have a tendency to the placing of * Addic I Msec, of Bp. EL U. O n p. 18. f Add. at Bishop ? s. Consec. p. 17. 126 BISHOP white's opinions. power in' the hands of persons, whose 'little finger' of unauthorized author- ity, will be heavier than 'the loins' of an authority made legal by the Constitution and the Canons of the Church." Q. What is the plea for departing from this order ? A. Bishop White says,* "The plea for departing from this order, is the greater increase of piety, But may not men be under the government of a piety, mixed with much error ? They may ; and, in this instance of the violation of order, they surely are. I mean, where piety of any sort is the motive ; for, in the greater number of the instances fall- ing under my observation, I have been compelled to ascribe it to mere vanity and the exaltation of self." * Charge 1807, p. 28, bishop white's opinions. 127 Q. What will be the result of lax dis- cipline OD the part of a Pastor ? A. Bishop White says,* " If the pas- lax in the administration of eccle- siastical discipline! he can hardly blame even a greater degree of laxity among his parishioners ; and, particularly, in points in which his individual interests mav be concerned. There is the greater reason to notice this, because of the readiness of those prone to violate institutions, to make loud complaints, when they are violated to their own dis- advantage. But such ought to be aware, that if they set the example of an eman- cipation from discipline, it is in the ec- clesiastical line as in the civil, that the leaders in such license are not the com- petent judges, as to the lengths to which it may ] xlended," * Comment, p. 90. 128 bishop white's opinions. Q. How may the 34th Article be considered ? A. Bishop White says/ " Then fol- lows a censure on those, who wantonly offend against the public provisions of the Church : which is a useful admoni- tion to all her members, and especially to her ministers ; who, when they break loose from the ties of the Rubrics and of the Canons, may find a condemnation of their conduct in this Article ; which they had solemnly promised to conform to, before they were admitted to the ministry, and thereby became furnished with an opportunity of violating its order." * Lectures, p. 183. BISHOP white's OPINIONS. 129 Section XXV. (Df C!?L>ucation on £l)urcl) principles. •• And that he may know these things the l>etter. ve -hall call upon him to hoar sermon- ; and chiefly ye -hall provide, that he may learn the Creed, the Loral Prayer, and the Ten Commandment.-, and all other things which a Christian ought to know and believe to his soul's health." — Fmm the Baptismal Office. And their children spake half in the speech of \-hdod. and could not speak in the Jew.-' lanrniarre. but according to the language of each people. r — AeA - ik, xiii. '2 I. Q. Can vi consistently adopt the principle in education, of indifference to the peculiar tenets of the Church ? A. Bishop White says*, " The prin- ciple cannot he acted on in the work of education, consistently With fidelity to the Gospel Ministry." * Ser. on Holy Innocents' Day, p. 10. 130 bishop white's opinions. Section XXVI. ©f % Otyirts-flme Article*. " And the next day he shewed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, say- ing, Sirs, ye are brethren." — The Acts, vii. 26. Q. What is. the design of the Arti- cles ? A. Bishop White says*, " he further believes, that the Articles were framed to avoid, not indeed all possible differ- ence of opinion, on questions which may be raised on religious subjects ; but difference as to the points, on which the framers of the Articles thought it necessary to determine." Q. Were the Thirty-Nine Articles drawn up with an accommodation to Calvinism ? f Comp, Views, vol. ii. p. 239. BISHOP WHITE 1 * OPINION! 1 > 1 A. Bi p White says*, "He is free to confess, that there was a time, when he thought the Arti in particular to have been drawn up with an accommo- dation to the opposite opinions treated of in this work. Further inquiry con- vinced him, that in part he was mista- ken ; that the Reformers of the Church of England did ii. ! accommodate to o an opposition of opinion, existing as early as the fifth century of the Chris- tian Church ; hut that subsequently to the period of the Reformation, there arose on one of the sides referred to (Calvinism) very important superaddi- tions ; which could not have ! i con- templated in the institutions of the Church of England, and to which they are directly in opposition." Q. Had the Thirty-Nine Articles of * Comp. \ .vol. i. p. \]. 132 bishop white's opinions. the Church of England been Calvinistic, would the Protestant Episcopal Church have ever recognized them as part of her system ? A. Bishop White says,* " It is not to be wondered at, that after the confident assertions which have been made, and after the great zeal which has been dis- played, to prove the Articles of the Church of England Calvinistic; the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Uni- ted States, should for some time have hesitated, as to the expressly recog- nizing of them to be a part of their sys- tem. Whatever hazards might have been run in the editing of a confession materially new ; the danger ought cer- tainly to have been encountered in pre- ference to the establishing of a standard, from which the sentiments of the Epis- * Comp. Views, vol. ii. p. 189, 190. BISHOP WHITS'fl OPINION-. 133 copal Clergy, and of Episcopalians gen- erally, would have beeD diverse; for that this incongruity would have been the consequence, ran hardly he douhted of by any who know the state of the communion in question. It lias contri- buted much to the union of that Church, and, as may reasonably be hoped, will operate to her perpetuity : that, on ma- ture consideration, there has taken place the conviction, that while the Articles contain all the necessary truths distin- guishing the Christian system, they do not embrace the superstructure of Cal- vinism, unnecessarily laid on their foun- dation." Q. Whence has arisen th< union of the Calvinistic description of our Ar- ticles ? A. Ih^hop White says*, " The opin- Comn 134 bishop white's opinions. ion of the Calvinistic description of the Articles, seems to have arisen from the tendency to Calvinism in the Clergy of the Church of England, after the san- guinary reign of Mary. And yet it does not appear that in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the favorers of the system were so apt to plead the authority of the Articles, as the example of what they thought the best reformed Churches." Q. Were not "the Lambeth Arti- cles" Calvinistic ? A. Bishop White says,* "The Cal- vinism of the Lambeth Articles, is not to be denied ; but what occasion was there for them, if their sense had been already declared in the Thirty-Nine (Ar- ticles) ?" Q. To what reign must we look for ascertaining the meaning of the Articles? * Comp. Views, vol. 2. p. 181. BISHOP WHITE'S OIMMon- 135 A. Bishop White says,* "That (the reign of Edward VI.) is the period, to which we should look for the consent- ing testimonies 6f individuals, in order to ascertain the meaning of the Arti- cles." Section XXVII. (Pf (Talinnism. Will you be ready, with all faithful diligence, to ;tnd drive away from the Church, all erroneous and strange doctrines contrary to God's Word ?" — fVoM the Ordinal. In our doings, that will of God is to be followed, which pre h dy declared unto us IB the Word of God." — / \ i ii. Q. What is the Scripture view of pre- destination ? A. Bishop White says,f "It is agn * Comp. \ ierwft, vol. 1. p. -J37. t Cuiinnviit. p. 80. 136 bishop white's opinions. able to Scripture also, if, as is conceived to be the case, the predestination of which it speaks, be of the collective body of a Church, and in reference to their state of covenant with God, in the present life." Q. Are the peculiarities of Calvinism of human invention ? A. Bishop White says,* "he con- ceives of the peculiarities of Calvinism; that they are human inventions ; intro- duced, at no very early period, into Chris- tian theology." ♦ Q. Are the doctrines of Calvinism un- reasonable ? A. Bishop Whitef speaks of them as " doctrines so shocking as those of Calvinism are here conceived to be to the reason of mankind." Q. Is Calvinism unscriptural ? * Comp. Views, vol. i. p. 121. f Comp. Views, vol. i. p. 125. bishop wnnr/s opinions. 137 Aa Bishop White says*, "The ho{ is indulged of their having been shown, that there is no ground in Scripture for the doctrine of predestination, in the •use in which the word is commonly used ; nor for the tenets which are its usual accompaniments. If so, they r< on human conjecture and human rea- sonings; and the belief of this will be the more confirmed, if it should be proved, as may be done, that they began to be introduced about four hundred years after the promulgation oi Chris- tianity." Q. Do not some of the Homilies of the Second Book go further in describing the sin of man, than the Homily on that subject in the First Book ? A. Bishop White savs,f "It is not to be denied, that some of the Homilies of * Tom. V vol. i. p. 34 f Coin. Vi ii. p. 1 17. 138 bishop white's opinions. the Second Book, ■ go further than the aforesaid Homily of the first. But this circumstance, is not decisive as to the sense of the Reformers. The Second Book, although composed in the reign of Edward, was not established until after the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth : and there is internal evidence of its hav- ing undergone a review. It must be confessed of some of the Homilies of the Second Book, that they contain sen- tences which go to the extent of the imputation of the sin of Adam. If this were designed, it is at the expense of incongruity with the Anti-Calvinistic sentiments of some of the homilies of the same Book." Q. Is there any Homily on predesti- nation ? A. Bishop White says,* " There is * Lectures^ p. 268, BISHOP WHITE'S OPINION* 139 indeed do Homily on predestination or on election: and this is a proof, thai the •use of the compilers was not in unison with those confessions and systems. ■ which enjoin and maintain the propriety of preaching on this point." Q, Should any one wish to prove the Church Calvinistic ? !. Bi p White says, * "Why should there be a wish to prove the Church Calvinistic, at the expense of ascribing to her a del \ which throws an air of inconsistency over all her institutions." Q, "How has it happened, that so many have confidently affirmed the Calvinism of the Church of Eng- land ?" A. Bishop White says,f "The answer is — It has not been by adducing, with even a plausible appearance, any direct * Com p. View?, vol. ii. p. 1» f Comp< V . vol. ii. p. 90, 140 bishop white's opinions. evidences from her institutions ; but by confidently affirming, that they who framed them were Calvinistic in their opinions." Q. Is it true that the compilers of the Liturgy were Calvinistic ? A. Bishop White says,* " The opin- ions of these good men must have been in direct contrariety to the standard on the present point (Calvinism) establish- ed by the Synod of Dort." Q. When was the doctrine of final perseverance set up ? A. Bishop White says,f " After that time, (viz : above fifteen hundred years after the commencement of the Chris- tian era,) there was set up the doctrine, that those once in grace cannot finally fall from it." Q. What is Bishop White's testimony * Comp. Views, vol. ii. p. 80. f Lectures, p. 17. bishop whitsM opinion-. 141 on the effects of the system of " Assur- ance ? M A. Bishop White says,* " He has known sincere and virtuous persons dis- posed to tolerate in professors very great delinquencies, believing them to be com- patible with grace; merely on the credit of occasional influences of the same animal sensibility; whereas in others, a much higher grade of inward and outward rectitude, and a regular dis- charge of devotional duties, would pass with the same pious persons for mere legal righteousness ; or a splendid spe- cies of sinfulness, not at all consistent with a state of acceptance with God." Q. Is the Epistle to the Romans Cal- vinistic ? A. Bishop White says,f "Had the Epistle consisted of such a series of sub- * lecture?, p. 244, 245. f Comp. VieWB, vol. i. p. 47, 48. 142 BISHOP white's opinions. jects as Calvinism supposes, a writer disclosing them to the world under the influence of inspiration, might fitly bow in submission under a sense of the fear- ful sovereignty, illustrating its glory in the damnation of millions of intelligent creatures, appointed to them before their being called into existence, and without any undeservings of their own, further than as these were the contem- plated means by which the last awful issue should be brought about. But that, in such a writer, the theme should awaken feelings, like those which seem to have possesed the mind of the Apos- tle, is surely one of the most extraordi- nary associations that can be imagined. Accordingly, we do not find, in the Cal- vinistic authors generally read, anything expressive of the same sensibilities, on the same subjects." Q. What is the design of St. Paul's bishop whitk's OPINIONS. 1 13 Epistle to the Romans, (the first eleven chapters ?) J. Bishop White says,* "There i unity of design in the argument of it; the Apostle laboring to prove, from the Jewish economy, that the Gentiles were to be partakers with the Jews of the benefits of the Christian covenant, with- out submitting to the ordinances of the Levitical Law." Again : " Is intended of them (Jews and Gen- tiles) in their collective, and not in their individual capacities." Again : " Its speaking of their respective pri- vileges, as belonging toa state of coven- ant with God in this world ; and not to a state of reward and punishment here- after." * Comp. V 1. i. p. A — 1 1. 144 bishop white's opinions. Section XXVIII. ©f tplatts of lDorsl)tp ; %tr Design, tlje VLst of Jflusic, anir ©rnament. " Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and wipe not out my good deeds that I have done for the House of my God, and for the offices thereof." — Nehe- miah xiii. 14. " If a man's private house, wherein he dwelleth, be decayed, he will never cease till it be restored up again. Yea, if his barn, where he keepeth his corn, be out of reparations, what diligence useth he to make it in perfect state again ? If his stable for his horse, yea, the sty for his swine, be not able to hold out water and wind, how careful is he to do cost thereon ! And shall we be so mindful of our common base houses, deputed to so vile employment, and be forgetful to- wards that House of God, wherein be intreated the words of our eternal salvation, wherein be ministered the sacraments and mysteries of our redemption ? The fountain of our regeneration is there presented unto us. the partaking of the body and blood of our Saviour Christ is there offered unto us ; and shall we not esteem the place, where so heavenly things are handled ?" — The Homilies, p. 252. " The convenient cleanness and ornaments thereof." — The Homilies, p. 239. Q. What is our Church's judgment of the design of places of public worship ? bishop white's opinions. 145 A. Bishop White says/ "Such cases (of urgent necessity or the accomplish- ment of some great good) out of the question, our Church judges it unsuitable to the design of a place of public wor- ship, and unfavorable to the affections which the being present in it should ex- cite and cherish, to make use of it for the transacting of public business, as for literary exhibitions, or for any other transactions of a secular nature." Q. Is Religion so abstracted as to have no connection with the senses ? A. Bishop White says,* "Not, how- ever, that religion is so abstracted as to hare no connection with the senses. Whatever charms the eye and ear ac- quireth by means of them an influence over the mind : and God forbid, that these avenues should be shut against * Con. Ser. 180P. p. 17. f Conv. Ser. 1 p. 17. 5 146 bishop white's opinions. such subjects only, as are the most wor- thy to take entire possession of the soul." Q. In the exercises of religion should we consult ornament as well as purity ? A. Bishop White says/ "in the ex- ercises of religion, we should consult, not purity only, but also ornament." Q. In the service of the Church should we disdain any proper assistance ? A. Bishop White says,f "She (the Church) should disdain no assistance which can be taken from the experience and judgment of past ages, or from the progress of literature, or even from the cultivation of the finer arts." Q. Is Music proper to aid devotion ? A. Bishop White says,t " Music, not only in its simplest forms, but as aided * Con. Ser. 1786, p. 21. t Con. Ser. 1786, p. 22. I Ch. Con. Ser. 1825, p. 20. BISHOP WHITE'S opinion-. 147 by mechanism, cannot be improperly employed, when it is for the exercising of devout affections." Section XXIX. (CH tlje Reformation, an) of tlje (Cl)urci) of iirnalanb Dunnes since tlje Reformation. " Ami if ye will not be reformed by rne by tht things, but will walk contrary unto me j thru will I also walk contrary unto yon, ind will punish you yet seven times for your BUM. — Zm v. zxvi. 29, 2 1. M And in these our doings we condemn no other na- uor [ any thing but to our own people only ; for we think it convenient that every country should 080 such cfremoni.es as they think best to the sett rth of God's honor and glory, and to the re- ducing of the people to a most : j<»dly living, tout error or superstition." — PrrfmtO Ch.ofEng, r /> -k. • Be left not himself without witness." — The A< .. 17. Q. The docunv of which reign during the Reformation, claim a prefer- ence I 148 BISHOP white's opinions. A. Bishop White says*, " The present speaker never looks back on these pe- riods, without admiration of the wisdom displayed in the documents handed down from them. Those of the former period (Edward VI.) he considers as claiming a preference, in an enquiry into the sense of the eminent men who took the lead in the Reformation of the Church of England ; and consequently into that of the institutions framed by them." Q. Were the English Reformers Cal- vinists ? A. Bishop White says,f " The sup- position of the Calvinism of the Re- formers of the Church of England is very often taken for granted, without evidence of the fact." Q. What is the characteristic of the * Sem. Address. 1823, p. 14, f Comp. Views, vol. 2. p. 20. bishop white's opinions. 149 most approved sermons of the Divines of the Church of England from the Re- formation ! A. Bishop White says,* "In these ser- mons, as in the Articles, in the Prayers and Homilies of that Church itself, there is an happy union of Christian doctrine and Christian morality ; equally unlike to some sermons in modern times, as 11 from the press as from the pulpit ; naked of the former property and desti- tute of the true spirit of the latter ; and on the other hand, to some vapid and short-lived productions, boasting of an exclusive claim to gospel preaching; but rather calculated for the excitement of animal sensibility, than for a lasting influence over the consciences and the affections." * Con. Scr.,1811,p. 25. 150 bishop white's opinions. Section XXX. f Rev. Joseph Milner's History of the Christian Church? A. Bishop White says,f " Like the two * Comp. View.-, vol. i. p. 403. t Comp. Views, vol. i. p. 416. 180 bishop white's opinions. authors above mentioned (viz. Toplady and Haweis,) he (Milner) is a Calvinist; and although not so intolerant as they in reference to opposite opinion, never finds Christian doctrine in its integrity, except in alliance with Calvinism, or in what he thinks he perceives the com- plexion of that theory." Section XXXIX. ©f t{)e Cjeatljttt. u For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law, are a law unto themselves." — Ro- mans ii. 14. Q. Is any part of the human race placed, by the condition of their birth, beyond the reach of the mercy of God, through Christ ? A. Bishop White says,* " It is here * Comp. Views, vol. i. p. 120. bishop white's opinions. 181 thought a r nable conclusion from the premises, that no part of the human race are placed, by the condition of their birth, 1 ml th h of the mercy of Gop, through Christ. Inre- ird to the heathen we may properly :' them, as being left to the un- covenanted mercies of God." Q. Is the hope that God extends his mercy to the virtuous heathen Scrip- tural ? A. Bishop White says,* "It is a con- spicuous truth of Holy Scripture." * Comp. Views, vol. i. p. 106. " These properties of our system, in Doctrine, in Discipline and in Worship, which in the Sixteenth Century were cleared from superstition by the Leaders in the English Reformation, were brought to the Colonies by the early emigrants of the Church of England, were recog- nized by us in the organization of our American Church, and, under the influ- ence of the grace of God, have been persevered in by us to the present day." — Extract from Bishop White's Address on laying the corner stone of the Gen. Theo. Sem., 1825. CONTEXTS. v ■YF.RTlSKMKNT, - - 7 I. Of Original Sin, - l J " II. Of the Plan of Salvation, - 13 III. Of Good Works, . 15 IV. Of Evangelism, and Evan- gelical Preaching, - 17 V. Of the Bibli . I the n lation of the Church to the Bibl< 90 " VI. Of the Early Fathers and Trad;:; tn, - - 30 u VII. Of the term Catholic j and of* tlic fii ur General Councils, and ofthe u Quod semper tobique omnibus" of Vinoentiua. - 46 VIII. Oftlie Church, - - ■ IX. Of Iv f i>< ■• - .") 1 X. Of Apostolical Succession, 62 XL Of Schism, XII. Of Charity, ii 184 CONTENTS. Page Section XIII. Of Spurious Liberality, 80 XIV. Of the Sacraments, - 84 XV. Of Baptismal Regenera- tion, - - 86 XVI. Of Frequent Communion, 94 " XVII. Of the use of a Prothesis, or Side Table, for the Eucharistic Elements, 96 XVIII. Of Catechising, - 97 XIX. Of Forms of Prayer, 99 XX. Of the Prayer Book. 103 XXI. Of Daily Prayer in the Church, - - 107 XXII. Of Holy Days and their Observance, - 112 XXIII. Of the Object of Reli- gious Assemblies, and of Novelty in Sermons, 115 " XXIV. Of Insubordination and Irregularity, - 121 " XXV. Of Education on Church Principles, - - 129 XXVI. Of the XXXIX Articles, 130 XXVII. Of Calvinism, - 135 " XXVIII. Of Places of Worship ; their Design, the use of Music, and Ornament, 144 a it « a [ITS, 185 \ \l\. Of the Reformation, and the Church of England Divi the B tnation, - 147 « XXX. Of thtPlaoepf Departed - 150 " XXXI. Of Uniting with Profil- ing Christiana Exte- rior to the Protestant Episcopal Church, - 152 " XXXII. Of Revivals, True and F - 155 " XX XI II. Of the Solemnization of Marriage, - - 159 XXXIV. Of " Unbosoming of the Mind*' to a Minister, 161 " XXXV. Of the Terms " Vital Pi- " "Vital Godli- " Conversion," and the "Sabbath," 164 « X \ \ VI. Of the General Theologi- cal Seminary, - 169 XXXVII. Of Archbishop Laud : of Bishop Ilobart. 170 (( 186 CONTENTS. Paga Section XXXVIII. 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